Abstract
BackgroundThe domestic goat is one of the important livestock species of India. In the present study we assess genetic diversity of Indian goats using 17 microsatellite markers. Breeds were sampled from their natural habitat, covering different agroclimatic zones.ResultsThe mean number of alleles per locus (NA) ranged from 8.1 in Barbari to 9.7 in Jakhrana goats. The mean expected heterozygosity (He) ranged from 0.739 in Barbari to 0.783 in Jakhrana goats. Deviations from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) were statistically significant (P < 0.05) for 5 loci breed combinations. The DA measure of genetic distance between pairs of breeds indicated that the lowest distance was between Marwari and Sirohi (0.135). The highest distance was between Pashmina and Black Bengal. An analysis of molecular variance indicated that 6.59% of variance exists among the Indian goat breeds. Both a phylogenetic tree and Principal Component Analysis showed the distribution of breeds in two major clusters with respect to their geographic distribution.ConclusionOur study concludes that Indian goat populations can be classified into distinct genetic groups or breeds based on the microsatellites as well as mtDNA information.
Highlights
The domestic goat is one of the important livestock species of India
Using the maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA sequence information, we have demonstrated earlier the existence of all the three previously known lineages A, B, C and proposed two new lineages among Indian goat populations [12]
The mean number of alleles observed over a range of loci in different populations was considered to be a reasonable indicator of genetic variation within the populations [3]
Summary
The domestic goat is one of the important livestock species of India. In the present study we assess genetic diversity of Indian goats using 17 microsatellite markers. Like other livestock species, are recognised as important components of world diversity and may play a useful role in sustainable agriculture in future. Goat breeds are mainly defined by their geographical position, morphological characteristics and production performance. Goats in India can be divided into large, medium and small breeds, which are mainly distributed into four major geographical regions: temperate Himalayan region, northwestern region, southern peninsular region and eastern region [1]. In the present study we have included all major goat breeds of India, representing diverse production characteristics (Fig 1 and Table 1). The Jakhrana, known for high milk yield, is from the (page number not for citation purposes)
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